Battle for Jasenovac

Battle for Jasenovac
Part of the Croatian War of Independence
Date September 1991- 8 October 1991 Location Jasenovac, Croatia Result Paramilitary victory Croatian forces withdraw Crimes against the Croatian population of the village
Belligerents
SAO Krajina	Croatia
Commanders and leaders
Vojislav Šešelj Željko Ražnatović	Anton Tus
Units involved
Yugoslav People's Army Serb Volunteer Guard Scorpions	Armed Forces of Croatia: Croatian Army
Casualties and losses
None	10-50 Killed

The Battle for Jasenovac occurred during the Croatian War of Independence. In September 1991, Serbian forces had taken the village of Jasenovac but on 8 October, the HVO tried an unsuccesful counter-offensive.

During the Croatian Army's retreat, they shelled a bridge, causing some damage to the Serbs but Jasenovac remained in their hands. During the village's occupation, Croatian civilians were forced to flee, with many also getting killed.

The battle

In mid-September 1991, Serbian forces had various advances along the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, attacking Croatian villages and towns, advancing further, and eventually arrived in Jasenovac. After some heavy fighting, the Serbian forces occupied the area and put up Serbian Flags on the Jasenovac monument. Afterwards, they expelled Croatian civilians, and also killed many, including those who supported the Croatian regime. In October, Croatian forces tried to re-take the village, starting an offensive. They had some success at the beginning, taking half of the village and advancing to the monument, but at the time the Scorpions and Serb Volunteer Guard paramilitaries had arrived, and their offensive kicked out the forces out of the area forcing them to retreat.

Aftermath

During their withdrawal, Croatian forces shelled a bridge, causing some damage to the Serbs on a small scale. As fighting resumed, Croatians had to withdraw from the city and suffered some devastating losses. The number of the casualties vary from 10 to 50. The Serbian side purportedly had no casualties, since they kept retreating until the paramilitaries came, and Jasenovac was kept in hands of the Serbs until Operation Storm. By then, the village was unprotected and had almost no Croatian civilians inhabiting it, and those who were still in the area had their homes burned.

According to Croatian sources, the Jasenovac memorial site was devastated by the Serbian paramilitaries during their occupation of the village. Others state that it was damaged by Croatian forces in September 1991. Simo Brdar, assistant director of the Jasenovac Memorial Area, managed to transport some of the materials and documentations for preservation. In 1999, the artifacts were housed in Republika Srpska and then to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2000 before being returned to Croatia.